The first in what many fans hope to be a longstanding partnership, the LEGO Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale set is easy to love, even if you have little to no familiarity with the tabletop roleplaying game that inspired it. It is, after all, a castle with a fire-breathing dragon—a classic depiction of good versus evil that's a staple to fantasy fiction and dates all the way back to the Middle Ages. And it looks really, really cool (see it at LEGO Store).
But D&D fans will find even more to enjoy, with an original adventure—Red Dragon's Tale—that collates with the build and gives its little details—the hidden keys and treasure, the weapons the skeletons hold, the scrolls lying on the table of the alchemy room—narrative meaning and purpose.
The plot is a bit of signature LEGO silliness, which involves the procurement of delicious hot wings. Beyond that, however, it is largely up to the players—and the Dungeon Master—to determine how the adventure progresses between the established plot points. LEGO always includes passive details that imply a larger story, especially in its modular buildings. But this set goes even further. Every printed tile, every tiny accessory, corresponds to an item in the text of the adventure, and could play a key role in advancing the plot. And if you aren't familiar with D&D rules, LEGO offers a more simplified, accessible roleplaying experience that hits all of the same narrative beats.
The build is divided into four booklets. Each booklet focuses on a different section of the final pastiche, and slots together with the greater whole via pins; there are no 'connecting bricks' that integrate the sections together. Because of this, you can actually build the set out of order—or if you have three friends, you can build the entire set simultaneously and cut your time into quarters.
Book 1 is the inn, which has little dioramas that depict a tavern on the first floor and a bedroom on the second floor. Book 2 is a castle walkway, a meadow, and a dungeon with a secret door hidden by a rock. Like several other things hidden in the meadow (such as the Golden Key that will unlock the dungeon door), players are meant to find these secrets via roleplaying the adventure. The dungeon connects to the castle tower's basement. Book 3 is the castle tower, which has three floors: a shrine on the first, an arcane workshop on the second, and a dragon egg chamber on the third.
And lastly, Book 4 is the titular dragon named Cinderhowl, the only part of the main build that is freestanding and not connected to anything else. Its body proportions are chubby and cute, although its head is appropriately menacing; the designers created a fantasy creature that is quintessentially LEGO by straddling that line. Cinderhowl is a four-legged creature with two independent cloth wings, which are draped over and pinned to a LEGO Technic web. These wings are adjustable and poseable, as are the front and hind quarters.
There isn't a lot of room for Cinderhowl in this build; I found that the best location is the castle bridge, although balancing him on the narrow walkway can be a bit tricky. You might knock off some stray pieces from the castle in the process of placing him. But to be fair, that's also what would happen in real life if a multi-ton dragon was to plant itself on an ancient structure.
The dragon is not the only magical creature in this set. There is also a Displacer Beast, an Owlbear, and a Beholder. The Beholder, with its multiple, massive eyes, is unusually well-suited to LEGO, and it manages to stand out in a build that's heavy on 'out there' visuals.
Taken together, LEGO Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale more than impresses on its own. There's so many little nooks and crannies in this build, so many new things to see and explore at every turn. And the color scheme, with its bright blues and reds against the castle's neutral grays, stands out and grabs your attention from across the room. This set is a part of the LEGO Ideas line, in which the fan community submits concepts to LEGO, the community decides which ones will be developed into official sets, and the fans who originated the ideas get a cut of the profits. From my perspective, this set more than delivered on its Ideas premise, from a construction and aesthetics standpoint. But the roleplay elevates it to something exceptional.
This is not the first time that LEGO has attempted some sort of formalized role-playing scenario with its bricks. Its short-lived Hidden Side line had its builders find ghosts via augmented reality on an app. The LEGO Mario line has players design obstacle courses with physical bricks, and then "play them" under a time limit, while an app tracks the coins that Mario collects.
But there's never been a narrative as ambitious and twisting as this one. Nor has there been one that dovetails so neatly with LEGO's ethos.
LEGO Hidden Side made the player look through a smartphone to fully realize its potential. LEGO Mario relies on a physical battery-operated Mario and an app to get the most out of it. But LEGO Dungeons and Dragons focuses the player's attention inwardly. One only needs his or her imagination to provide exposition, mythology, and lore—no digital intermediary required. The most fanciful thing about the build is the build itself.
LEGO Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale, Set #21348, retails for $359.99, and it is composed of 3745 pieces. It is available exclusively at the LEGO Store.
For more, check out our picks for the best Marvel LEGO sets, as well as the best Disney LEGO sets. And if you're a person who enjoys nothing more than a good deal, take a peek at the best cheap LEGO sets.
Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. He's also been published in Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.
